Candan briefed the Socialist International on the current stage of the Cyprus problem

Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen newspaper (14.07.17) reports that Armagan Candan, “deputy” with the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) in occupied Morfou represented the party at the meeting of Socialist International in New York.

Delivering a speech during the meeting, Candan briefed the audience on the current stage of the Cyprus problem following the failure of the Cyprus conference in Crans Montana, Switzerland.

Supporting that the Cyprus Conferene in Crans Montana was a “serious opportunity for a solution”, Candan stated that unfortunately the process did not yield a positive outcome. He, however, stressed the need for the convergences achieved by the two sides during the last two years not to be wasted, stating that it is necessary to undertake steps in the forthcoming period and to be constructive based on these convergences.

Candan further called on the international community not to endure the status quo in the island, since, as “it does not benefit either the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots or Turkey and Greece”. He also expressed the view that in parallel to the efforts aiming at reaching a mutually accepted solution, it is important to support confidence building measures in order to bring the two communities closer to each other.

Pointing to the so-called embargoes “imposed” by the international community on the Turkish Cypriots, Candan called on the international community to keep the promises it gave to the Turkish Cypriots and proceed to the “lifting” of the “embargoes” until after a solution has been reached.